As the pandemic has abated in many part of the country and the economy has reopened, commercial waste has increased, but residential waste creation has not slowed. Converting all that new garbage to energy is the best available option, Grondin said. Now natural gas from the landfill powers contractor Waste Connection’s 12 garbage trucks, the landfill’s five pickup trucks and six trucks for litter abatement teams. Attempts to convert more pandemic garbage into energy are likely to be controversial, said Frank Roethel, director of the Waste Reduction and Management Institute at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. "And waste to energy doesn’t necessarily get the recognition, but it could certainly reduce emissions.”———Associated Press writer Janet McConnaughey in New Orleans contributed to this report.

Source: ABC News July 09, 2021 15:33 UTC